My 2nd year of collecting baseball cards, and the last card set before expansion to 24 teams and divisional play. I have completed the whole set. (Series 1-5, and 7 during 1968. In my neighborhood, the 6th series was unavailable. I completed this in the 1980s.) -- 28-SEP-2009

Thursday, December 31, 2015

Paul Blair was the speedy center fielder for the Orioles during their mid-1960s to mid-1970s golden days.

Blair was signed by the METS (who had yet to field a team) in July 1961. The Orioles claimed him after the 1962 season in the minor-league draft of first-year players. (I learned something new today!)

Paul played in the Orioles’ system for the ’63 and ’64 seasons, and made his major-league debut in September 1964, playing in 8 games as a pinch-runner or defensive replacement in center field (with only 1 at-bat).

Blair was the Orioles’ starting center fielder for the first 2 months of the 1965 season, then was in and out of the lineup during June, before missing the entire month of July. He returned to the starting lineup on August 6th, and started all the remaining games in center field.

In 1966 Blair played in 133 games, but only had 79 starts (all in center field). Although he only hit .167 in the World Series, he clubbed a home run in the O’s 1-0 win over the Dodgers in game #3.

He was the team’s regular center fielder through the 1976 season, and won 8 Gold Gloves in the 9-year span from 1967 to 1975.

After 1976, he was traded to the Yankees for outfielder Eliot Maddox. After 2 seasons as a part-time player for the outfielder-heavy Yankees, he was released in April 1979.

Blair was signed by the Reds a month later, and was a bench player for the remainder of the season, although he also made 37 starts in center field (but none after early-August).

Granted free agency after the 1979 season, Paul did not find work until the end of May 1980 when the Yankees re-signed him. After appearing in 12 games over the next month, he was released on July 1st, ending his 17-year career.

Saturday, December 12, 2015

Stange was signed by the (old) Washington Senators in 1957, and made his major-league debut with the relocated Minnesota Twins in April 1961. He pitched 2 games in April and another 5 in September, all in relief.

Lee returned to the Twins for a full season in 1962, and was used almost exclusively in relief. After the month of April 1963, he was mostly used as a starting pitcher, and finished with a 12-5 record, his only season with double-digit wins.

After 14 appearances, in mid-June 1964 Stange was traded (along with George Banks) to the Indians for pitcher Jim “Mudcat” Grant. In his first 1 ½ seasons with Cleveland, Lee was used as a reliever in about 2/3 of his games.

In mid-June 1966, Lee was traded to the Red Sox with veteran fireman Don McMahon for reliever Dick Radatz. Lee made 19 starts that season, and although he began the 1967 season in the bullpen, by early June the Sox made him a starter. He started 24 games the rest of the way as Boston made their way to the World Series. Stange pitched in one game in the Series.

After 1967, it was back to the bullpen for the rest of his career. He played 2 ½ more seasons with Boston, then was sold to the White Sox in June 1970. He was released after that season.

After his playing career, Stange was the pitching coach for the Red Sox, Twins, and Athletics in the 1970s and 1980s.

Set description I posted in Zistle

The 1968 Topps set included 598 cards, 11 fewer than the previous year. As in 1967, the cards had vertical backs. Topps returned to the teams’ color scheme that was used in the 1966 set (and would also be used in 1969). Cards in the high-numbered 7th series are more difficult to find, due to limited distribution that late in the season.

Among the cards are 20 manager cards, 12 league leader cards, and 8 World Series cards. Inexplicably, there are only team cards for 13 of the 20 teams. The set includes just 30 rookie stars cards (down from 43 the previous year), and there is no Giants Rookie Stars card, which is odd considering that Bobby Bonds would have been a candidate for that card. Multi-player cards decreased from 13 in 1967 to just 3 in the 1968 set. Two of them feature stars from multiple teams. All-star cards (20) returned to the set in 1968, after being absent for several years.

The 1968 set includes the final cards for 48 players and 2 managers, including long-time veterans Eddie Mathews and Roger Maris (who both wrapped up their careers in the 1968 World Series), Rocky Colavito, Elston Howard, Bill Henry, Larry Jackson, Al Worthington, Norm Siebern, Larry Sherry, Jim Bouton, and Floyd Robinson.

Notable rookie cards in the set are Nolan Ryan and Jerry Koosman (on the same card) and Johnny Bench. Other rookie cards in the set (all “solo” cards) include Gary Nolan, Don Wilson, Manny Sanguillen, Mike Marshall, and Danny Frisella.

1968 rookies with significant playing time who were omitted from the set include Reggie Jackson, Bobby Bonds, Del Unser, Bobby Cox, Hector Torres, Tom Burgmeier, Marty Pattin, and Sparky Lyle.

Other quirks in the 1968 set: - For some (contractual?) reason, all the Astros cards show the team name as “Houston”, and all Astros logos are airbrushed out of the photos. - Since the Athletics moved to Oakland in the off-season, all photos are airbrushed. - As mentioned above, 7 teams did not have a team card, and there was no Giants Rookie Stars card. - The design of the “burlap” borders was changed after the first series. - The "Topps All-Rookie Team" trophy is missing from the cards for Rick Monday, Rich Nye, and Dick Hughes.